Charlie’s Boy: Into This House We’re Born

by Justin Charles Stauffer

A powerfully-crafted narrative about the complicated layers of family and faith and parent/child relationships. Wholly relatable and compassionately told, Charlie’s Boy will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading. - Matthew Paul Turner

Genres: Fiction

359 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2021

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend, who happens to be the author's aunt, lent me this book and I'm so glad she did. It was really good and I could relate to a lot of the struggles that Muggsey experienced throughout the story. There was one part in particular, where Charlie, Muggsey's dad, is talking to him about redemption, that really just touched my soul. "Most people don't want grace, they want absolution. But there is no absolution--that I know of. At least not in this life. There is hope for redemption, but no absolution. And redemption doesn't come easily, Muggs. Respect it when you see it. It isn't often, in this life, that we get to be redeemed." Beautiful, profound words.

[Andrea Amole · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Think of having the ability to see things from many perspectives—especially from the perspectives of people who think differently from you. If we could all do that it would make the world a better place.”
I will be thinking about this book for a long time. How can I better see things from the perspective of another?
Written from the perspective of a 12-year-old boy—Justin has a way of bringing the reader into his world—adventures, risks and mishaps, as well as the many lessons to be learned about family and faith.

“So many answers aren’t really right or wrong. They depend on the situation. On one’s point of view or their past experiences. When we start trusting just one voice or person for all our answers, that’s when we get ourselves in trouble.” Muggsey and his father and grandfather have a unique relationship that many will be able to relate to and learn from.

“Dad had never feared religious or philosophical differences. He loved them…He loved to learn about people—about why they thought, believed and acted the way they did. Dad said that was the best way to learn—right from the source…Dad’s intention was never to weaponize the information—or use it to cast judgment. It was only to educate himself, to grow his own understanding.” So much of this book made me stop and think, take notes. It will be on my ‘best of’ for 2022 and one I plan to come back to often. It reads like a light Sunday afternoon easy fiction story, but I feel like I just finished a book that taught me many ways to be a better human.

[Toni Kolb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beginning of this story felt simple. It was life through the eyes of a twelve year old boy. After a few chapters I started feeling a kinship with Muggsey. His experiences mirrored some of my own as a young person. His aversion to religious rules that didn’t make sense. His love and comfort in family traditions. The adventures he had growing up in the country with animals and books and outdoor summers. The old hymns and strict standards. Dress codes and the reverence for the Kings James Bible.
Trying to reconcile the fact that people in other denominations could also be nice people.

Sometimes the dialog between his parents or his patriarchal Grandpa would resonate deeply. Sometimes I could feel my twelve year old self grieve alongside Muggsey.

Then at the end of the book, the simplicity takes a seat and Muggsey is a grown man, asking questions, and mourning and learning and seeking in ways I have so recently experienced.

Sometimes it seems we are alone when we are non conformists. When we question what we’ve been raised to believe. When we open our minds. When our faith gives way to openness. When death makes us question. When home is both sweet and bitter. Comfort and pain.
And then you read a story like this one. And you know you are not alone.

[Nicki Pappas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justin Stauffer drew me right in with his powerful storytelling and imagery. I resonated so much with the internal struggles and questioning of the main character. The last few chapters were an emotional experience, too, and I needed a box of tissues close by. Many aspects of my own faith journey and grief over what could have been/should have been in familial relationships were reflected in Justin's story. I highly recommend Charlie's Boy for all who are looking to lead with curiosity and compassion.

[Brantz Woolsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Living near the places and people represented in the book, I felt a connection to the material. I also felt a connection to Muggsey and felt I could relate to him and his dad on so many levels. This is a beautiful book about finding yourself and your place in this crazy world. Even those small worlds of religion, family, and community.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. When receiving it unexpectedly, I had only planned on reading a few initial pages to get an idea of what it was about, because I was already in the midst of some other books. That plan didn't work out so well, and once I started, I didn't really put it down till I was finished.

Why was it so consuming? I think my biggest takeaway was that I was unexpectedly struck with a sense of how influenced and shaped each and every one of us are by the early events in our lives. Usually that's especially highlighted when we read memoirs of tragedy, torment, or horrific struggle. This was really none of those, yet for the author, the comparatively subdued struggles and hurdles he faced during this particular summer, parallel with so many childhoods of people that will likely never write a book.

Although it did contain some hidden poignance within that I won't spoil here, this book was for many who appreciate the extraordinary memoirs of drama, but don't often find a lot in those stories to parallel their own experiences. I take nothing away from those tragic or fantastic stories of struggle, but this book will hold a unique place in my literary memory as wonderful picture of how events in our lives which could seem to others as banal and undramatic are still the very things that create the nuance of our existence. Our personal stories are as formative and meaningful for us as anyone else's are for them.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlie’s boy is set against a place whose strong emotion carries all the way through.